My First Golf Trophy

The other weekend I played in my first golf tournament of the year, which was an employee charity event raising funds for breast cancer. One of my colleagues organises this event annually and approximately eighty people attend. This year the golf course was at a place called Furry Creak Golf and Country Club which is situated near Squamish on the highway to Whistler. Although I have hardly played golf this year, apart from crushing Ross at the Stanley Park Pitch and Putt course in May, these 18 holes were to produce my first ever golf trophy (probably my last as well).

It was on the sixth hole on a par 3 and I hit the ball with a hybrid club, it dropped onto the green about a foot and half from the flag. We marked the ball placement but figured that as we were one of the early groups through the hole, someone would beat it. Turned out that my flukey shot was enough to take home the glass trophy (see photo). I even managed to get a birdie on another hole and achieved a round of 102 shots. So I should retire now from golf and enjoy the success.

Nancy completes her First Triathlon

Last Sunday, Nancy completed her first triathlon. As you are probably aware, Nancy has been training to complete a sprint distance triathon on September 5th at Stanley Park. She has joined the Team in Training group (http://www.teamintraining.ca/bc/) and has committed to raising $1900 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Canada. This last weekend, she decided to do a trial triathlon to give her some experience and to build her confidence with this new sport.

The learnings from the first race were to stay calm and relax, don't hunch your shoulders, check your bike before hand (brake pad rubbed the tire the entire way and her seat was off center!) and the running stint goes faster than you think! Nancy is proud to say she completed it and didn't finish last! She'd like to thank Kari who joined her for this event and helped distract her from her nerves and provided a celebration at the finish line. Check out Kari's blog for version of the race: http://talesofalittlefish.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/tri-tri-tri/

The next few weeks are focused on building distance into her training regime and to get out into the ocean for as many open water swims as possible. If anyone wants to sponsor Nancy and help her hit her fundraising target, here's the link - http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=3053625&Lang=en-CA. Nancy sends a big thank you to those who have already sponsored her!

The Sam Show and English Grub

It has been a while since there was some recent Sam photos and I've put together a few pictures of Sam from the last couple of weeks. I know there are a number of people out there who are only reading the blog for Sam updates and photos, so this is for his growing fan base.

Also as a side note, we were on Vancouver Island last weekend and went to the local British food shop where we picked up some old favourites (see the photo). It took a great deal of will power not to buy more, especially the Penguin biscuits!

Welcome to the Gunshow!

It has been on my bucket list for a while and last week I went to the gun range with Kari and another friend. The three of us were all novices at shooting but all were keen to test our skills and experience guns at first hand. The shooting range has the feel of a bowling alley style with its routine of checking in, but we had a friendly lady called Lisa as our trainer and gun expert.

We started with two different hand guns, which were 9mm Glocks - one with a long barrel and the second with a short barrel. These are similar to the weapons that the Canadian police use. Once we had chewed through 100 bullets between the three of us, Lisa recommended we progressed onto a high-powered rife with a red-laser sight and then a Remington 870 pump action shotgun with birdshot cartridges.

We were all slightly nervous to begin with and the anticipation of the pulling the trigger started the adrenalin pumping. However, once the first shot was released the fear of the unknown passed, it became quite enjoyable with the buzz and we weren't half bad at hitting the target. I can see how people can easily get hooked on guns and why they should be controlled.

DC Versus BC.... Definitive Answer

Having arrived on Sunday afternoon, Kari has been staying with us in Vancouver as part of her world travel tour. She is Emily's best friend and an ideal person to provide an independent view of which place is best.... Washington DC or Vancouver, BC. This is because, Kari recently stayed with friends and her god daughter in Virginia on this trip and a couple of years ago even visited Ross and Laura's house. So what is her view on the best place?

Check out Kari's recent blog article.... (sneak preview - Vancouver 1 - Washington 0). Send that to the City Points Council.
Talesofalittlefish - Blog

Long Weekend in Canada

The past weekend was a long weekend in Canada, as Friday was July 1st and Canada Day, made even better by the summer sunshine. We took the opportunity to take part in the local festival, concert and various activities laid on for Canada Day. Sam and I went aboard a naval cruiser ship, which was moored in the harbour, near our apartment and as you can see from the photo, he managed to take command of the captain's seat. We also saw a Sea King helicopter complete a fly-pass. In the evening, we wandered up the street to experience the Canada day parade following by fireworks over the harbour. A busy but very enjoyable day for the three of us.

On Saturday, we made our way to Lynn Valley on the north shore of Vancouver, where we walked along the forest trails and crossed the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge was on the 36 things list for Nancy, so box ticked and even more impressive as Nancy suffers a little vertigo. Sam was nonplus about the whole event, however, during lunch at the river the Japanese tourists were all over him for photos. Let's just say he played up to the cameras and loved all the attention!

The fun did not stop there as Sunday morning, Sam and I were up early to watch the Men's Wimbledon tennis final with Djokovic beating Nadal. For most of the time, Sam was pretty hooked - future tennis star in the making! In the afternoon we headed to see the local baseball team - The Vancouver Canadians. Who just happen to be sponsored by Smart cars. Another photo opportunity was Sam sporting his new ear defenders to protect him from the noise of the crowd.

Nancy's 36 Things

The background to the 36 things is that last year, when Emily and Kris were visiting Vancouver, we were all out drinking and being merry for Nancy's 35th birthday. A conversation topic quickly started around what things would be on each of our "bucket lists" and this soon turned into coming up with ideas for Nancy to do in her 35th year.

Nancy went onto complete some of these items and the concept stuck, with Nancy creating a new list for her 36th year. I managed to prise the list from Nancy and thought I would share it with everyone on the blog. The 36 things list has been going for a couple of months and so a few items have been completed (highlighted in green).

See the list below and please join me in supporting Nancy in her quest to complete the 36 things in her 36th year

1. Participate on a committee of a charity
2. Volunteer 15 hours
3. Have date night with my hubby once a month
4. Take tennis lessons - postponed to Sept
5. Hike the Grouse Grind
6. Walk or run the TC10km
7. Walk or run the Sun Run
8. Hike Mt. Finlayson
9. Raise $1000 for LLSC - completed as part of triathlon prep
10. Consistently do pilates
11. Get a new job or start a new business - currently investigating new business
12. Visit and cross the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge - completed 2 July
13. Book 2012 Washington Trip
14. NZ/Sydney trip - booked for 1st Feb
15. Book 2012 Chicago Trip
16. Hubby to whisk me away to Burrowing Owl
17. Visit Sun Yat Sen gardens
18. Visit Museum of Anthropology - completed 15th May
19. Night snowshoeing at Seymour
20. Tandem paragliding - trying to book
21. Ropes course in Victoria or Maple Ridge
22. MLS Game
23. Vancouver Candians Game - completed 3rd July
24. Cloverdale Rodeo - completed May
25. 2nd Annual Marks reunion - completed June 25th
26. Kayaking in Brentwood Bay
27. Butchart Gardens fireworks
28. Gunshooting in Port Coquitlam
29. Take Sam swimming every week after 6 months - course booked
30. Set up RESP for Sam - in progress
31. Baby Massage Class - completed May 29th
32. Cooking course
33. Visit Van Deusen Botanical Gardens Xmas lights
34. Infant/Child CPR course - completed June 19th
35. Vancouver Triathlon - September 5th - in progress
36. Road to Conquer Cancer Race - June 16 and 17th 2012